UST Student Accepted to Baylor SMART Program5/20/2011University of St. Thomas student David Torres has been accepted into the Baylor College of Medicine Summer Medical and Research Training (SMART) program beginning May 30. The prestigious program accepts only 80 students nationwide and is highly competitive.

The SMART program consists of nine weeks of biomedical research, complete with daily seminars, GRE preparatory workshops, career development exercises and campus residential housing at Rice University. Torres has been awarded a $4,600 grant by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas for cancer research under Dr. David Tweardy.

During the course of the program, Torres will spend at least 30 hours a week in the lab. The program will conclude with a presentation of his research in front of fellow colleagues and researchers.

“This will help me succeed by giving me an opportunity to study what I am really passionate about,” Torres said. “I plan on going to medical school after UST to become a pediatric oncologist and this research is perfect for me.”

Torres credits his professors, family and friends for his success at UST and his acceptance into the SMART program, particularly Dr. Gayle Slaughter, Dr. Rosmarie Rosell, Dr. James Clarage, Dr. Michelle Steiger and Dr. Wheeler Crawford.

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University of St. Thomas
The University of St. Thomas, dedicated to educating leaders of faith and character, is a private institution committed to the liberal arts and to the religious, ethical and intellectual tradition of Catholic higher education. St. Thomas is Houston’s only Catholic University and was founded by the Basilian Fathers in 1947.